


Far Between and Not at All

by ScarletStarlet49



Category: Planet of the Apes (2001), Planet of the Apes (TV), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Movies), War of the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Genre: Caesar/human OC, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-18 18:57:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11880747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletStarlet49/pseuds/ScarletStarlet49
Summary: It was madness, all of it. She was lost in a violent sea of judgement and 'goodness', whatever that was, and her only raft was a self-righteous chimpanzee king. How did it all get so screwed up? Caesar/human OC. Rated M to be safe. Set ten months after Dawn of the POTA.





	1. A New World

**AN:**

**Hi lovelies, you're here so I'm assuming you've watched the POTA remakes...if you're here and you haven't - JAYSUS get off this website and go do so immediately.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the plots or characters from the Planet of the Apes franchise, only my OCs. I'm posting this fanfic for fun and gaining nothing from it besides enjoyment!**

**"A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend" - Willow Rosenberg.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 

Over the past ten years it had become increasingly difficult to pinpoint just what it was that made a human being. The philosophers will tell you that it is their curious nature defining humanity, the politicians will have you know that it's their strong opinions on morality. But if another species begins to demonstrate these traits, that which allegedly sets humanity apart, what judgement do we make of them? It would be easy to explain in scientific terms what it is to be human, but what of the mind and soul? If, of course, you don't believe consciousness to be an evolutionary accident…

Caesar once believed he had the answer to these questions. He believed that the defining feature that set both human and ape apart was loyalty. Humans constantly destroyed each other but apes were family, and then his comrade and brother in sentiment tried on his life. Next, he had considered the trait to be mercy, and then he himself had shown none not ten months ago. The first kill to test the boundaries of his morality had been Koba. The second had been the band of humans who murdered his wife, they'd begged for their lives and he snapped their necks. Caesar knew now that there were not only bad humans, but bad apes too, and he was one of them.

So, the next time humans would attack their way into his kingdom, he'd drive his spear through their backs.

* * *

"Jesus Christ are you trying to get us all killed?!"

Somewhere among the trees and, unbeknownst to them, not two miles from Caesar's colony, a soldier held his comrade at gunpoint. A small female stood between them, her hands pressed bravely against the perpetrator's shoulder.

"Blake put the gun down, please" whispered the female "we've already made too much noise. Please."

"That's right, let Ari pussy whip you some more instead of standing up for-"

BANG.

* * *

_Aria's POV_

It had been 72 hours since they'd left the wall and already one of their group was dead. The gun shot pounded her ear drums and Aria squeezed her eyes shut, not in shock, but exasperation. She wondered at which point a human murdering another human stopped coming as a surprise to her. Three days ago, they'd been called to the main building to be dispatched on what would be their first mission. The team had consisted of Aria, Blake, Elliott and Pleoh. All highly trained, all under the age of 21. Aria's parents hadn't had the resources to send her into politics and government. The human race might be in tatters, but they were still at the mercy of money and dictatorship. If you were a surviving family with even less money, your child would be trained as a soldier and deemed expendable. Most of the young adults of the surviving colony were soldiers. Aria and Elliott were part of the medical research core which, until three days ago, meant that they'd never ventured into the Redwood. Which is why Blake and Pleoh, the oldest members of the group and both highly trained soldiers, were sent with them.

Blake had volunteered to go with her, much to Aria's surprise. He'd been cold towards her and well, everybody, for months. He was an entirely different person when they'd started dating, kind, never acting without contrition. But war changed everybody. She wondered whether he'd contracted one of the few diseases now plaguing humanity, she sort of hoped really. She wanted an excuse for his violence and hostility. Pleoh might have been hot headed and arrogant, but he probably didn't deserve to be shot in the face.

"What the hell man?!" Elliott yelled from his position on the ground, shock forming a cold sweat on his face. Clearly, he hadn't spent a lot of time with Blake recently. "he's fucking dead!"

"And you too might be so lucky. "Blake spat, crouching down to loot Pleoh's corpse of spare bullets "better this way than the disease all that sniffing around in bushes is gon' get you"

"Shut up both of you! We're God knows how many miles into the Redwood because of **your** poor mapping and now we've just alerted every living creature here to our whereabouts."

Aria would spend time being sickened by Blake's viciousness later, right now they needed to get as far away from their current location as possible. She picked up her research equipment, quickly snipping and bagging one of the wild flowers and dragged Elliott up and out of his alarm state. A colony of birds flew past them and she knew instantly that something was coming.

"We **need** to go!"

The remaining three began running through the dense forest, Aria at the lead. Whilst she stood just over five foot and small framed, she may not have been the strongest but most certainly the fastest. That was until, her foot caught on a fallen branch. She went down with hard thud, unprepared and gasping for breath.

_Fuck._

She could hear rumbling now, panic engulfed her and she looked up desperately at the soldier who'd ran past her crumpled body, Blake, her boyfriend. She wasn't surprised when it was Elliott who ran to her side, Blake hadn't been a **boyfriend** in months. Her comrade yanked her to her feet but it was too late. They were already surrounded, even Blake at the far end of the clearing. She didn't have to squint through the rain to know who had found them, the black shapes consumed what little sunlight cracked through the trees, bringing nightfall to the forest. She knew exactly who they were.

"Shit, oh shit." Elliott gasped in her ear, still clutching her sides. An appropriate reaction, considering they were now surrounded by eighty furious looking apes. Aria's able brain worked at a million miles per hour, trying different combinations of escape until one of them stuck. She knew all about 'Caesar's Army', knew they hated humans, she had been there with her parents when they'd attacked on mass and lead her family through the streets in chains. She didn't know what happened after that point or why so many of them had fled to the town hall. The soldiers from the North arrived quickly and shot down the apes that still held the civilians' prisoner. No one had seen anything of the creatures since, some believed Caesar himself had been taken down and that was why no more attacks had come. How do you reason with a creature that wants your entire species dead?

Suddenly a silver chimpanzee landed on the leaves in front of them, causing Aria and Elliott to stumble backwards. It stood up on two feet until it was almost eye level with Elliott and growled.

"Human…NOT…bring…GUN…into WOODS"

Now, Aria had been told of the apes evolving to be able to speak but she'd never heard it. Knowing they could hadn't prepared her for the chill that would rock her spine when they did.

"O-okay" she gasped palms out in front of her now, in her nineteen years, she'd never been so terrified.

"We don't mean any harm, we came here for medicine."

"HUMAN…LEAVE…NOW."

"Okay Okay" Elliott gasped nodding furiously, gripping Aria's forearm and pulling her back in slow steps with him.

"HAND OVER GUNS FIRST."

_They want to take our weapons before we turn our backs and leave, will they even let us leave once we've handed them over? We don't have a lot of options. FUCK._ She remembered that she had the skinning blade strapped in her knee-high boots but that was it. She hadn't even been properly trained in knife fighting. She knew Elliott had a handgun hidden on him too. _It'll have to do_

The two teenagers laid their visible weaponry on the grass slowly, never breaking eye contact with who they'd assumed to be the leader of the group. Aria nodded slowly. _Okay?_ She turned to Blake who was lowering his machine gun, he glanced back at her. She froze when their eyes met, his cold eyes much darker than usual. She knew that look only too well. _Oh no._

"BLAKE NO!" she screamed. But it was too late. The gunshots split the clearing and she watched wide eyed as the apes in front of Blake fell to the ground. He took off running through the space he'd created. Howls of ferocity erupted from behind her. They would be slaughtered within seconds if they didn't follow him. Elliott had already started running and she followed, swiftly overtaking him through the dense woods.

A scream ripped through her ears and she knew Elliott had been taken down. She gritted her teeth, every nerve in her body yelled at her to keep moving despite wanting to help her friend. There was just one scream though – he was already dead. Tears began blurring her vision and she smacked straight into Blake. She took him down with a thud but as quickly as they fell, he was up again, so much stronger than her. Though this time, he clutched at her hand and dragged her up with him.

"Come on!" were the last words Aria heard before hot blood splattered across her face. She stared wide-eyed at her boyfriend as she processed. A thick spear head jutted out from his chest, mere inches from her nose and his body trembled aggressively. She was almost sick. She knew she had to run again but she couldn't, that was it, that was too far. She remained frozen as the apes surrounded her once again.

" _Are you OK Ari?" Blake chuckled tearing off a piece of fabric from his Steel Panther t-shirt and wrapping it tightly around his forearm. The warmth and cheekiness of his smile would have, as always, been enough to calm the storm inside of her, if she could only lift her worried gaze from his arm._

" _Come on baby, it's just a little blood..."_

Blake's eyes faded quickly and he was gone. Aria heard a crunch behind her and she turned around to see an ape holding her at knife-point. _Not like this._ The seconds passed as hours and she squeezed her eyes shut, praying her body would be returned to her parents.

Then suddenly the apparent leader of the group grabbed the ape's shoulder in an all too human fashion and signed something to him. Aria had learned quite a bit of sign language in school, everybody had in order to communicate with those afflicted by the Simian Flu.

**Caesar will want to question alive one. Find out about other humans.**

The ape before her lowered his weapon in agreement and quickly seized her upper arms.

_Well, I guess that means their ruler is alive after all. God help the human race.  
_

* * *

**Thanks for reading, I'd really appreciate it if you left a review letting me know what you thought!**


	2. Vulnerable

Evening had begun its descent upon the forest by the time they reached the colony. Aria squinted through the tears, unable to wipe them away with her arms bound. She hated feeling so vulnerable. The towering trees were becoming gradually replaced with fort like beams and she could hear hoots surrounding her. She couldn't get the image of Blake's skewered body out of her head. _Will that be my body soon_ _?_ The gorilla leading her stopped abruptly and she smacked right into him, he didn't seem to notice, he was staring at whatever commotion was unfolding ahead of them. Aria craned her neck to look past him and immediately regretted it. There, not ten feet from her, was the bullet tarnished corpse of the ape Blake had killed. There was a high pitched howling as another smaller bonobo scrambled to it's side. The noise was full of such pain and hysteria it shook Aria to the core. _So emotional, was that even possible for apes?_ She assumed it was the dead ape's mate. She forgot herself for a moment, fascinated that the apes had even bothered to carry the dead's bodies home. Would anyone even find her comrades' bodies?

There was a hard shove to her back as her captors urged her to keep moving. The scene quickly disappeared behind her until the bonobo's cry was nothing more than a faint echo. The hooting had vanished and there was silence now as they entered the clearing, which was so much more frightening. It dawned on her that there wasn't another ape in sight, she thought they'd have gathered around her howling and trying to attack her but instead she was assaulted by nothing but the harsh rain. She was glad for it. It would mask her tears and she wouldn't have to appear so weak in front of their leader. She took in her surroundings, desperately searching for anything that might aid her escape. A large wall made up of sharp beams surrounded the entire area, it looked far too dangerous to climb. She spotted a cave entrance on the far side of the clearing, presumably there was an exit at the back if she could run through. God knows how many apes were inside though. She'd have to get up to it first which would require climbing the giant boulders that jutted out from all angles. She had done quite a bit of bouldering with her dad, but she doubted she could out-climb a chimpanzee.

Suddenly the ape holding her forearms, threw her forward. She hit the ground with the side of her face, squeezing her eyes shut to avoid getting dirt in them. Her arms were finally free and as she managed to lift herself shakily into a press up position, peeling her body off the thick mud. She caught sight of her captor's leg behind hers and in one second of hot headed desperation she thrust her foot back into his knee cap. The ape crumpled, stunned by her action and she seized the moment to jump to her feet. As her head whipped up, ready to run, she froze.

Stood on two legs before her was the most intimidating chimpanzee she'd ever seen. He looked down on her from a good six or so inches, his broad back and arms making her look tiny by comparison. She didn't need a sign to know who it was. How had he appeared so fast? He hadn't even been in sight two seconds ago. They locked eyes for what felt like thirty minutes. The rain was heavy now, pouring, and the only sound for miles. _Caesar._

After a couple of seconds in real time she was brought to her knees again, harder this time, so hard she was sure she'd fractured a knee cap. The ape whom she'd attacked yanked her head up by a fistful of blonde hair.

"HUMAN. ATTACK. APE." He managed, raising a spear behind her. "HUMAN. KILL. APE."

"No! I didn't attack anyone please!" Aria winced in pain but turned to Caesar with her palms in the air.

"Your apes surrounded us and my comrade attacked, I tried to stop him…he wouldn't listen."

She could feel the tears welling in her eyes again and it made her angry, so angry she had to grit her teeth to stop from saying something she'd regret.

"You killed him!" she yelled at Caesar "and you killed someone innocent too you bastard!"

She gasped realizing the words that had come out of her mouth. She'd accused Caesar of being her friends' murderer, not because he had delivered the blow or was even there, but because he was ape. She was as bad as her captors. What was the point in arguing that she was innocent when she'd just condemned Caesar simply because he was the same species. For the first time she hated both human and ape, hated them for this war, hated herself for becoming no more than a product of it. She slacked slightly and Caesar's startling green eyes continued to stare at her.

After a few more seconds he lifted his heavy gaze and raised a hand up to the ape confining her. She watched his gaze shift again and he began signing.

**_Rocket. Is she telling the truth?_ **

She assumed 'Rocket' had said yes because the spear never came and when Caesar met her eyes again, his were slightly less frightening.

"Are there more humans in the woods?"

His voice was deep and he sounded tired, in a way that was oddly human.

"Not anymore. I'm the only one alive."

"Where are you from?"

"One of the colonies that survived your attack last year. We moved."

"Where?"

Aria pursed her tips together and stared heavily at the ape king. His jaw tightened and he looked vaguely annoyed.

"You are young. Why did they send you here?"

"I'm a medical researcher, the Simian virus is evolving to find new ways of attacking the immune and so they sent us to try and find a cure.

**_Not a soldier._** An orangutan with a wide faced signed to the leader.

"The men who were with you?"

"Soldiers, except for one. Elliott, he was a researcher like me. No, better. He wouldn't have hurt a fly."

"Your mate?"

"No. The other one...today your apes murdered my 'mate' and my friend." Aria spat "this is a great day for you."

At this Caesar's eyes changed, something flickering in them that she could not competently perceive. She almost thought it was sadness, like her words meant a great deal to him. _Impossible. He's a savage._ He seemed to be considering for a long time before he turned to Rocket and began signing.

**She lives. I think her leg is injured, she cannot walk.**

**She cannot stay here. We cannot trust her.**

**I know that Rocket, we will send her on horseback in the direction of her old colony. The lights still on, still power in city, she can contact her family there.**

**What if she tells soldiers where we are?**

**She'll go blindfolded.**

Caesar then crouched in front of the girl and to her alarm, pressed his palm flat against the cloth covering her abdomen. His hand felt large and rough even through her top, like if he wanted he could punch a hole through her.

Her body stiffened at the contact and she flinched when his other hand gripped the bottom of her vest top.

With that he tore off a shred of material and fixed it around her head, sending her whole world into darkness. She knew she should be frightened, losing her most relied upon sense in such a circumstance. But instead she breathed out a sigh of relief, it meant she was going home, her remains wouldn't be strung up as nothing more than a unsettling warning. She had visualized it as she received her leg wound: her skull pitched up high by the entrance of the ape village. STAY AWAY. At least now she'd have the opportunity to die via the evolution of the Simian Flu like every other poor bastard on planet Earth. It probably wouldn't hurt as badly as what the apes would have done to her. It did occur to her though that all those problems Rocket had brought up could be solved through killing her. The stories she'd heard of Caesar told of a barbaric primitive that wanted to wipe out her entire species and replace them. So why didn't he just kill her?

She was snatched from her thoughts as her wrists were bound tightly behind her by what felt like vine. Caesar finally took a step backwards and made a strange calling. She couldn't see a thing, God damn why hadn't she worn a thinner top. She knew she had been lifted and then placed upon the horse because a searing pain blistered across her calf and she had to grind her teeth to stop from screaming. She panicked slightly when it dawned on her that she would be completely reliant on the horse to make the journey, if it fell she was done for. She had no power there. She hoped it would continue straight or maybe Caesar had a way of communicating directions with the animal. She laughed inside at the idea, but stranger things had happened.

As the horse began to trot, she felt it's neck tugged to the side. She assumed one of the apes had hold on the reigns. Aria slipped forward slightly as it seemed to bow underneath her and her thoughts raced. _Had they changed their minds?_ Her breathing was heavy as she braced herself. The rain interfered with her hearing so she jumped when she heard his voice less than a meter from her face.

"Do not. Come. Back."

_Strange. Almost human if it wasn't so gravelly._ With that the horse rose and continued along it's path back into the woods, leaving Caesar and the ape colony behind.

* * *

It wasn't until about twenty minutes into the journey that Aria's muscled relaxed and she could breath normally again. Her first time into the Redwood in ten years and she was captured by the ape army. _Typical_. The image of her dead comrades reminded her of her failure. She sucked in a breath and pushed it out of her head. She had plenty of time to grieve when she reached the colony, right now she needed to stay alert. Not that there was much point, she was riding solo on a horse she had no control over and couldn't even use her hands to catch herself. Not to mention the makeshift blindfold that meant if anything was lurking in the woods that might want to eat her it had a very good chance of doing so. She wasn't doing a very good job of keeping her heart rate down. She let her mind focus on seeing her old colony and what she would tell them. Would she tell them Caesar was alive? She knew the place was ran by the military now and it was very likely they'd attack if they found out about him. She knew then that she couldn't tell anyone. He'd spared her life, and so she couldn't risk his. Aria couldn't help but dwell on that fact, she knew that some apes weren't bad, much like some humans weren't. But Caesar was the barbaric leader who'd turned the city's lights back on just so that he could see his army slaughter them. He was a warlord. Wasn't he? It's not like she'd whined and begged for her life. Sure she wasn't as brave as she'd hoped, but she wasn't weak. Aria always tried to be brave, the thing about bravery is...it's God damn **difficult.**  
She thought about his eyes, unforgettable in an animal and completely remarkable. They were intense but not _evil_ , they were angry and deadly serious but also...considerate. It was as though he was genuinely playing 'pros and cons' with Aria's life, not that she could think of any pros of that for him. He'd just spared her anyway. Was that out of morality or strategy? Did it lessen the benevolence of the act if it was both? Should the act itself be more important to her judgement than the reasons behind it? She'd spent a lot of time considering Deontological ethics since the war. Of course, she seemed to be the only person doing so. Most of the other people her age, and there weren't many left mind you, seemed too wrapped up in 'how to win against the savage apes'. She'd gotten Blake to read one of her most relevant Immanuel Kant books but he'd just called her 'deluded' to consider the 'sit down and talk' approach to be an option. But in Aria's eyes, that was always an option.

She was so tangled in the web of her thoughts that she didn't hear the rustling of leaves. Didn't notice the mountain lion stalking on higher ground. So when the horse, finally startled, took off, she screamed.

Her body rocked back and she squeezed her thighs together frantically so as not to fly off.

"STOP!" she screeched in desperation, she had no idea what the proper word was. The horse squealed and nickered as it ran. A snarl ripped through the trees behind her and she realized with a gasp that they were being chased. she remembered the knife in her boot. Her mind launched into crisis mode and began listing steps of survival, the first of which was freeing her damn wrists. The blindfold was a close second. Aria tried forcing her wrists apart to break the vine but it was no use. She was no where near strong enough for that.

_SHIT. Aria THINK what can I use?_

The overhanging twigs slapping her body became realized and she slammed her torso forward onto the horse, thrusting her arms in the air behind her. Her arms were too short to catch anything strong enough. The cat sounded close now. She ground her teeth together and decided her only option left was to rip her hands through. She quickly gripped the edge of the makeshift saddle between her buttocks and began yanking her other hand through hysterically. Lucky for her the vines were sharp and ripped at the skin on her wrists. She cried out as it peeled back and her blood lubricated her wrists. Finally she tore her hands free and without dwelling on the pain, yanked off her blindfold. She looked around to see the cat at eye level with her now, running at the same speed on the high ground.

_The knife._

She thrust her hand into the back of her boot just when it leapt at her.  
In a split second it had closed its jaws around her narrow shoulder and tore her body from the horse.

She screamed once more as teeth drilled into her flesh. For a split second it felt like she was a flying mass of screaming agony and nothing more. Then everything went dark.

* * *

**Thanks for reading chapter 2! The next one will feature some of Caesar's POV too. This is my first fanfic so I'd really love reading your opinions on the story so far and any constructive criticism you might be able to give me...anything that can help improve my writing is appreciated :)**


	3. Turn Your Back

Caesar's POV

"Do not. Come. Back."

The small female before him flinched when he spoke, he knew it was good that he had frightened her, but he still didn't enjoy doing so. He had become naturally less aggressive towards females when he came into conflict with them, squaring up more to the human men. Evolution was moving fast and had already changed his nature in so many ways. In fact his first instinct had been to stop Coal when he'd raised the spear to her head. There was something about this particular human girl that betrayed a fragility she seemed desperate to hide. She had yelled at him and accused him of murder and yet the look in her eyes told him she hadn't meant a word of it. Still, protecting his colony was and always had been his primary interest, and his life's only purpose. He wanted to _want_ the girl dead, and then she'd spoken those words 'you killed my mate' and accused him of taking pleasure in the fact. Is that really what the human race thought of Caesar now. The idea of taking pleasure in killing somebody's loved one, human or any other species, made him sick. For he knew that pain. Every night he knew it. Every night he'd see Cornelia, her final moments, the look of shock and pain in her soft eyes as the bullets tore into her back. He had saved her life when they were young, and his poor judgement had later taken it away. First, he had made the mistake of trusting Koba. Then, he had trusted soldiers. Trusted them to see reason. Trusted them to be like Will and Malcolm, how wrong he was. It was his wife that paid the ultimate price for his mistake. So whilst this girl's words had angered him, they'd near enough brought him to his knees. He couldn't convince himself to be OK with murdering another being, especially not this female creature with soft eyes that looked like she'd had to grow up far too soon, he didn't have the strength this time. So he watched, weakened, as the horse carried her off into the trees.

**'Caesar, if she lied about no more humans out here...'**

**'I don't believe she did, Rocket. Have the guards surround the wall anyway. I'll round up a patrol team. No more apes will die today.'  
**

"Doing. it. Again. Father."

Caesar turned to see his oldest son standing at the cave entrance, spear in hand. Caesar didn't respond for few seconds. It had been months since Blue Eyes had spoken to him like that. Naturally, after Cornelia's death he'd hated his father. Blamed him for it, believing that Koba, despite his betrayal, was rational in his genocide. Humans brought nothing but destruction and there was no reasoning with them. He wouldn't even talk to Caesar, he just sat on the bank near the waterfall and cried each night. It was after a week of witnessing this that Caesar snapped. His son was there when Caesar found the human's that killed Cornelia - there when Caesar brought his fists down with such fury that within seconds their faces were destroyed. He was there when there was nothing left but blood, teeth and Caesar's shame staring back at him.

_"Happy now?!" Caesar bellowed, the fur around his face matted with human remnants._

Caesar remembered the look of shock and, to his horror, fear on his son's face before he shook his head.

_No._

Their relationship had been tense ever since. Their family broken. Caesar glared once more into the accusing eyes of his son.

**'Where is your brother?'**

**'Asleep with Lake.'**

Blue Eyes signed nothing more and took off into the trees after the patrol party.

* * *

After twenty minutes of patrolling, all Caesar had found were the skewered bodies of the girl's comrades. They were young like her. Humans always looked much kinder in death, facial features relaxed, all traces of anger erased. He called Rocket to search them. After a couple of minutes he handed Caesar a shotgun. He turned it over in his palms feeling the weight of it. It wasn't much to his strength. It still amazed him how something so light could do so much damage. The fragility of life had been staring him in the face for a long time now.

Suddenly a shrill scream took hold of his attention.

**'Maybe bear got her. That works out best for us'** Coal signed.

Caesar knew really that it was lucky that she'd been attacked. He should be relieved. Instead the idea that they'd disabled her, tied her up and sent her off into the Redwood to get eaten sat horribly with him. He wasn't as soft as he used to be, and perhaps the problem with finding a 'good' human was simply that there were not _enough_ of them left to play the odds. But had he really become the monster that would let a practically innocent creature die in such a painful, violent manner? Simply because of the actions her mate had taken? Was Cornelia, by association, responsible for all of Caesar's great mistakes?

**'She didn't hurt ape. She was going to give us her gun and leave. She did not attack when her mate did'** Rocket signed back.

Caesar grunted and shrugged the leather strap over his shoulders _._

"Stay here."

There was another squeal, this time from the horse he'd sent her on. It sounded as though they were moving North-East. Caesar followed the sound, leaping from branch to branch. He could not outrun a horse and certainly not a mountain lion, but that didn't stop him from trying. If he could just get close enough to aim the shotgun...

There was a snarl from the ground ahead and a scream that had to be hers. He knew instantly that the predator had let the horse go and taken her from it. Caesar quickly dropped beneath the tree tops, practically falling from branch to branch until he had a clear view of the scene. Her body was flat as the cat rolled across it, playing mercilessly with its kill.

"AGHH" Caesar bellowed swinging the gun around into his arms to catch the cat's attention. Just as it moved far enough from the girl's body, he pulled the trigger.

The cat made a strangled noise and fell onto it's side. Caesar let out a puff of breath and slowly restored the shotgun to his back. He closed his bloodshoteyes, the new silence infiltrating, nesting.

_He couldn't save her. Not this time. Not last time._

"Cornelia" he breathed.

The girl inhaled sharply. Caesar's head snapped up. _Alive._ He immediately dropped onto four legs and ran towards her. She lay on her back trembling but unconscious. Blood pumped and flowed heavily from the puncture wounds in her shoulder and had caked most of her chest and neck. Caesar was no stranger to this sight. During the months since the war had started he'd seen more of the insides of humans than he'd seen of the outside. He hadn't seen a female like this though.

_Don't let her suffer._

With a cold look on his face, Caesar pulled out the shotgun once more, and pointed it at the female's head.

"Ss..."

Bloodshot brown eyes flew open and Caesar froze. They were soft and full of confusion as they met his, it turned to fear, and then finally, pain. Every muscle in the ape's body slacked as he watched her.

_Not this time, not last time._

_NO._

He saw that her backpack was still tangled with one of her arms and he threw the gun to the ground. He yanked it open, grabbed the first piece of cloth he found and pressed it to her wound. He **would** save this girl, human or not.

* * *

Aria's POV

_She's running. The sound of drums has engulfed her senses and it's all she hears, all she _tastes_ She thought she was running away at first but now she knows she's running towards. Knows because she'll do anything to keep hearing, no - feeling - it. Her whole body struggles to hear the drumming. War drums. She should have known. She needs to get there but - she's wearing a dress. Why. She doesn't wear dresses. It's clinging to her skin, making her ill.  
_

_It's fucking hot._

_She can feel the sweat, slick on her skin, running down her face. Struggling to hear the rhythm. She doesn't have a lot of time. Utter silence; her heart was beating in her chest in time with the drums. It falls dead. The air breathes a name..._

_The forest that surrounded her has already fallen away. Along with the blinding white light, artificial surely, that split it._

_Her heart had stopped in her chest; legs kicking uselessly. Slick with sweat; with blood. Her throat burning, and she couldn't see. Roaring in her ears. The world receding. Everything: friends, family, all falling away. Feeling her memories dying. Layer after layer she was peeled back, sense and identity being stripped away, pain leaving, until all she was was a shining speck –_

_standing at the crossroads_

and _he_ was there.

She woke with a gasp, bolting upright and immediately regretting it.

Christ that hurt. It hurt even more when two pairs of large hands closed around her arms and pinned her back down. She instantly went into panic mode. Not awake enough yet to even see properly. She struggled against her restrains, ignoring the pain that rippled across her back. There was a lot of grunting and squawking from her captors. Didn't they understand she didn't talk ape?! Suddenly the events of the past 24 hours flooded back to her, her mind sifting through all of them until it rested on the image of an uncommonly large chimpanzee with a gun pointed at her face. She hissed and thrashed once again, she knew she was injured but by what she could not recall. It was as if someone had cut either end of her memories and crammed them all into one air-tight window.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes now. She really was putting herself in a lot of pain.

"It's OK" a gentle, feminine voice stilled her movements. "It's OK"

_Human?_ Aria blinked the water around her eyes until she could see clearly, the ape before her. _No, of course not._

A female leaned over her and placed a hand on her thigh.

She had a softer face than the rest, younger maybe, and the fur on either side of her head was braided with coloured beads. She sounded slightly more human too, or maybe it was just the fact that she was the only one that hadn't yelled at her yet.

As she'd taken in the female, Aria's heart rate slowed and her body gave in slightly. That's when the pain pushed back to the foreground of her attention. She winced and allowed the apes to hold her still, remembering that it was not, in fact, their leader that had attacked her. She looked around at the faces of three curious and cautious chimps, then past them. She appeared to be inside of something, for the light was cast only by wooden torches. Her brain managed to pull from within, very briefly, the sensation of cool air and hands underneath her bones. A memory of quiet chattering and a few flickers of light. Then a clinging fog on her skin. With dry eyes and the fog, it was hard to make out, but the vast cave was still a solid presence in the mist.

"Why am I here?" the tremble in her voice betrayed her fear. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Lake. Get Caesar" the ape on her right grunted, his rough hands loosening their grip on her.

**'I don't believe she will attack or run. The girl is injured and calmer now, I can keep her calm if I stay.'**

He removed his hands cautiously before signing back.

**'Where is he?'**

**'Bottom of the waterfall with Blue, overseeing the passing. You might want to wait Hazel, out of respect.'**

**'Human is awake. Can't wait.'**

With that the male was gone, leaving her with only two apes now. Still two too many in Aria's book. Was their leader coming to pass judgement on her life again? Would he decide that, now she couldn't even get home, the only option was killing her? Pain splintered her shoulder once more as if to underscore her question. She tried to shift so that there was no pressure on it, but the makeshift bed didn't put a lot of inches between her and the ground. What was it made from... moss? Leaves? She wouldn't have expected anything in all honesty, she knew the ape colony were highly intelligent but the assumed in the cunning way not the 'home comforts' way. The medieval torches fascinated her too. As she checked her wound she discovered a thick leaf had been pressed against the puncture wounds. Aria cringed inwardly, did apes have a concept or sterilization? She'd find out in a few days when she either would or wouldn't die of infection.

"What passing?"

The ape named Lake snapped her head around at Aria, a look of blatant shock and then confusion across her features.

**'You can understand sign?'**

Aria nodded. She'd asked because she was really starting to get the ritualistic sacrifice vibes from these apes. First the war paint, then there was some weird one with a witch doctor mask peering over at her now and then. They'd rescued her and taken her back to their colony. Caesar was attending some ceremony...it was all feeling way too 'Papa Legba' for her. Lake stared into her eyes for a while with careful consideration.

**'Two of our apes were killed by soldier yesterday. They're sending the bodies downstream..'**

Jesus. It was a funeral. Aria looked away from Lake, shame engulfing her. Lake must have been perceptive because she grunted to get back Aria's attention.

**'Rocket say you tried to stop soldier. Why?'**

Wait. _Yesterday?!_ She remembered it was afternoon when the apes had found them. She must have been asleep for at least seven hours. She met Lake's eyes again, she looked sad but genuinely curious. Aria wasn't the violent type, in fact, she hated violence. When you spend your entire adolescence, the frailest stage of your life, in a war zone, the adult you eventually become is a product of it. Most of her friends had gone one way, a tormented mind of hatred and revenge directed at anyone they didn't understand. Aria had gone the other. That's not to say she didn't fear the apes because she did, but she feared some humans she'd encountered just as much. How could she condone culling a species that had committed atrocities no worse than those committed by her own kind. She struggled to answer Lake's question, struggled to find the right words. She just wanted the killing to stop.

"Peace."

A grunt from her left made Aria jump. Stood on two feet at the entrance of the cavern, wearing a stern facial expression, was Caesar.

"I do not think that is achievable anymore."

His voice was as hoarse and as troubled as before, though his eyes were not quite as dark. Aria remembered him saving her now, she was in so much pain, so certain she was dying - he must have been about to put her out of her misery when she woke. But he hadn't. _Instead he brought me here._ Aria sat up on her elbows, it hurt but there was something about his presence that demanded it. The sheer primitive dominance at the core of every aspect of Caesar made it impossible to stay calm around him. She'd do her best not to let him see that though. She was annoyed at her body for reacting in such a submissive manner.

"Was it peace you were thinking about when you started this war?"

The ape from before - Hazel was it? - growled at her words.

**'Have some respect. Caesar saved your life. He's saved all of our lives.'**

Does subtracting the 'bad' deeds from the number of 'good' equate to an overall decent person? Aria supposed it depended on the value of those deeds. How do you measure attacking what's left of a species against saving a different one? So in that instance, she decided to be selfish and feel grateful that Caesar had saved _her_ life. He raised his hand to Hazel, silencing him.

"What is your name female?" Caesar asked, ignoring her snappy comment.

"Aria. Why did you bring me here? Why did you save me at all?"

Caesar wore a stern expression, she was beginning to think he didn't have another one. His eyes told her that he was in thought, considering how to answer her questions.

" **You** deserve to know that apes are not monsters. When you return home, you will tell them this."

So he'd saved her to prove to her colony that his weren't savages? It was a tactical advantage rather than a moment of empathy? The thing that set Caesar apart from most apes she'd encountered - it was _all_ in his eyes. When he'd held that gun to her face, his eyes held all the pain in the world. It couldn't be for her, she was human and he didn't even know her, it was for something else. And certainly more than a tactical advantage.

"Thank-" his face hardened and he cut her off.

"You will stay with us for three days, when you are well, you will return. Apes will go with you to bridge."

She couldn't believe he was sending his own with her, to protect her. She'd heard stories about him over the years - 'brutal leader of the ape tribes' - that completely contradicted how he'd treated her in the past, God knows how many, hours. She had no idea how to react to him now. Part of her was grateful for his kindness, the other part was terribly unnerved.

"Lake, Hazel, leave her now. She will continue to rest."

Without another glance in Aria's direction, the apes were gone, leaving her disconcerted and very alone.  
She collapsed back down onto the makeshift bedding; still incredibly weak. So much had happened that she didn't understand. When she'd read about animal testing as a child, she'd been furious and disgusted. So when the battle at the bridge was on her television screen, she was secretly elated. Then, after the flu outbreak, the liberated apes had attacked her colony. She felt betrayed almost. So much had happened between the time of that naive little girl who had a heart bigger than her, and the woman she'd grown into. She wasn't the sort to generalize but she knew that this new world was one where humanity and ape were enemies. If one of them had wandered into her colony, the military would never let it live. Let alone rescue it and patch up its injuries.

Within moments of deep thought, she was asleep once again.

* * *

The next morning, when Aria awoke, the abnormally wide face of an orangutan leaned over hers.

"Ah!"

She scrambled backwards away from the creature. Jesus w _hat the fuck is THAT?!  
_ It made a noise that reminded her strangely of a Shisha pipe and the information flooded back to her. She relaxed; she was still with the ape tribe. This one was creepy as heck though.

"W-what do you want?"

It looked a little alarmed at her reaction and appeared to be considering something carefully. Then, to Aria's surprise, it picked up something from the corner and held it out at arm's length to her. It was her backpack! She'd completely forgot about it. She shuffled a little closer to the orangutan and when she met it's eyes, it had the warmest look in them, nodding at her to take it.

She quickly drew it to her, digging through it desperately until she found her water bottle. God she hadn't realized how dehydrated she was. Once she'd drank enough to think straight, she glanced up the ape.

"Thank you..."

**'You're welcome. My name is Maurice...are you hungry?'  
**

Aria was completely bewildered by Maurice but the truth is, she was starving. So she nodded. The orangutan imitated her gesture and then left the cavern.

_Geez they brought my bag with them and everything. Animals wouldn't have even thought..._

She continued rummaging until she found the holy item - _Aria of four days ago was a babe -_ antibiotic cream! Peeling back the leaf and ignoring the soreness that followed, she began rubbing the cream on her wounds.

Maurice was back after five minutes with a handful of blue Concord grapes. She just stared at him in disbelief _\- OK so they're feeding me now too._ She had to admit, she was a bit fond of this one, he had kind eyes and looked very cuddly. Although that sort of thinking usually lead to bitten off limbs. She didn't hesitate when taking the fruit, she figured if they wanted her dead then she wouldn't be there.

**'Caesar says you must stay inside today.'  
**

"Why?"

**'He is talking to the apes who don't agree with a human staying here.'**

"Oh..." Aria shifted uncomfortably, popping another grape into her mouth "if it's such a problem why didn't he just kill me and be done with it?"

**'Caesar has never killed anybody without good reason. He is not a savage.'**

"So all of Dreyfus's men...people's fathers, people's _sons_what was Caesar's 'good' reason that night?"

Maurice's eyes flashed with surprise. _Shit, watch your mouth Aria._

**'Caesar did not start this war Aria. I suppose it makes sense that the humans don't know that...that night, at the tower, Caesar came to stop the war.'**

"He's your leader is he not?"

**'Yes but there was an named Koba...his hatred of humans consumed him until there was nothing left. He was like a brother to Caesar, but he betrayed him. When Caesar was down he turned the ape colony against the humans, made them believe that Caesar was dead, that it was your fault. He started the war.'**

Aria stared blankly at Maurice. The first time she saw Caesar, he was on horseback with his army. He'd almost look regal, if it weren't for the flashes of striking white and red across his fur; stark colours that warned of the violence and blood to come. The sirens were still deafening and her mother had pulled her away from the crowd. Later that evening, her father told them that the apes did not want war and had only come as a warning to the colony. But they had spoken. She knew from that moment they were more than just animals. But coming here...it became clear that they had developed natures and civilizations as morally complex and advanced as her own species.

"Then why did he let me think it was him that started it?"

Maurice looked sad _-_ **'he thinks it does not matter anymore'**

"He mustn't think a lot of us humans then."

' **You must understand, Caesar has suffered great losses. He is not a God.'**

"and what do _you_ know of God?!" Aria snapped. She instantly felt guilty.

' **It's OK. You have suffered losses too...'**

This stopped Aria in her tracks. _War makes you_ _unkind._ She wondered what Caesar had loved and lost. Assuming apes _could_love. It suddenly dawned on her that she'd been unfair to Caesar. He'd spared her life, despite her comrades attacking his kind, and then he'd actually saved her and given her shelter. It was strange to think about the tall painted creature on the horse showing _anyone_mercy.

"Maurice may I be left alone? I think I need to sleep again."

Maurice nodded and left.

Aria had no intention of sleeping; she didn't have enough answers yet. Now that she was healing, she needed to talk to the leader himself.


	4. Communication

The air outside the cave was humid from yesterday's rain and the morning mist clung to her skin. Aria hated this weather, it felt like nature's way of trying to suffocate her. She was glad she'd left her pullover in the cave, she'd need to at least try to get some of the mud off her before putting that on. It would be important to stay as clean as possible over the next few days if she was going to avoid getting her wounds infected. So she'd managed to find the way out of the cave from her chamber, which wasn't much of a distance but still a strain on what appeared to be a sprained knee, now to find **him.**

She had to admit, their primitive village was impressive, considering they must have built it in under ten months. It made her wonder what their previous home was like. She'd made her way back to the vast clearing that lay in wake of the cave and found it to be rather quiet, save for just a few apes dotted here and there. They all looked up when Aria entered.

Two females grooming each other on the rocks stood up and growled. It was like reverse dominoes as one after another rose and began pant-hooting at the human intruder.

_I thought Caesar spoke with them about me. Maybe they have the 'out of sight is out of mind' stance on the situation._

No wonder Maurice told her to stay inside. They hadn't approached her though so she hoped they were just displaying their dislike rather than preparing to attack. What's more, most of them had young with them...they were civilized weren't they? Aria avoided making eye contact and began climbing down the boulders. A loud hooting caught her off guard and she slipped on the wet rock, grazing her leg. A bonobo had advanced and made its presence known to her. It had a small head atop narrow shoulders and a slender build that distinguished it from the chimps. When she met its eyes, Aria immediately recognised it to be the grieving mate she'd seen on her way into the ape village. _Oh no._

The mate was growling now and moving on two legs. _So revenge is another among the concepts we share._

Aria slowly crouched before the mourning female and slipped her fingers into the back of her boot, feeling for the knife that still resided there. She didn't want to use it. God, she really didn't. Her mind was racing with ideas to get out of the situation before it escalated.

"Shiva" the same gentle voice that had calmed her the night before. Lake.  
Aria hadn't seen her in the clearing, she must have heard the commotion and come down. She stood a few feet to the right of the bonobo and reached out her hand to touch Shiva's tense shoulder, an incredibly human gesture of trust - where had she learned that?

**'Stop. We mustn't think like Koba.'** She urged tentatively.

When the mate looked back at Aria, her eyes were full of tears threatening to spill over. It was as though she wanted to force herself to attack the human girl but simply could not. She'd seen war, she didn't expect to see it in the eyes of a bonobo ape. Had they always been capable of such raw emotion or was this yet another side effect of the flu? Aria felt a pang of anguish for the apes that came before; locked up in cages, paraded in the circus - in her mind, it had always been cruel but only now had she realized just _how_ cruel. If they had always been this self-aware...she quickly shut that thought away in a tight little box and pushed it to the back of her mind. Her shoulder slumped and she slipped the knife back into her boot, abandoning her defense. Then Aria did something that stunned them all.

_Show them not everything has to be resolved through violence._

Slowly, Aria bowed her head before the mate and offered her hand, palm up. She'd read so much in her short lifetime that it was hard to pick out the useful bits - but when her mind finally settled, she saw with perfect clarity, what to do.

_Show a willingness to listen, to empathize...to compromise._

The apes, even Lake, were taken back by her action. For this was not a human thing to do. Shiva didn't touch her palm; didn't grant her permission. But she didn't attack her either - it was a start. Shiva rocked back restlessly, shoulders slumping she turned her back and then disappeared into the trees, leaving Aria with nothing but a nervous sweat. She let out a huff of relief and began inspecting the cut on her thigh - it wasn't very deep, just a surface wound. She probably wouldn't have even been marked if she hadn't worn cargo shorts.

"Do you know where Caesar is?" she stood up and dusted herself off.  
Lake looked over her, hard; trying work the girl out.

_I bet she knows I'm supposed to be staying inside today. I'll have to pretend I'm going back and then try to slip out the cave another way.  
_ But to her surprise, Lake nodded with an expression that almost seemed like she _wanted_ her to find him - like it was an excellent idea.

**'Downstream'**

"Thanks" Aria nodded and began following the river.

_Koba._ Who was this guy anyway? Was he still part of the tribe? Or in some sort of ape prison? It suddenly seemed fascinating to her how they dealt with 'bad apes' in their civilization. She felt sometimes that they were a similar to the humans that lived centuries ago, like hairy Huns or something…was there some barbaric death penalty for 'bad apes' ? Her question was answered when she came to a fallen rock, bigger than the walls in her house, lying flat on its side. Into the stone the carved words – 'ape not kill ape'. Except the last 'ape' was almost scratched through.

Sat in front of those words, was the ape she'd come looking for. He was perched on the edge of a log bench with his head down and a sharp looking rock in his hands.

_Had he written that? Or did the scratching?_

She hoped it wasn't the latter and that this wasn't a really bad time to approach him. She needed to talk to him, everything she thought she knew had been turned upside down in a matter of days. For the first time it seemed like peace among human and ape might actually be possible, she _had_ to talk to him. She had to know - was it? She figured she should probably clear her throat or something so that he doesn't jump out of his skin and attack-

"Human does not do as she is told."

It was her who jumped. Those damn ape senses. His voice was gruff but he didn't sound angry, just a little annoyed. He didn't look at her, his eyes seemed glued to that writing. Aria sucked in a breath and decided to be brave; she sat down on the log bench about a meter from Caesar. His torso was typically longer than his legs and that of a human's, so the height difference was much larger sitting - when had chimpanzees gotten so big?

"Thank you for saving my life…" she tried. He didn't flinch, but she could see his eyebrows draw together slightly. Annoyed again. He dropped the rock. Aria shifted uncomfortably as they sat in silence together. She knew she was in a potentially dangerous position, but she had to try, for the sake of her family, her species.

"When I get home, I'll make sure everyone knows about this. They've thought for months that you started this war."

Something unreadable in Caesar's eyes faded into a grim expression and he closed them. She remembered Maurice saying that Caesar believed it didn't _matter_ what humans thought about him anymore. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps if she sat down before the colonel from the North and explained the true events of that night, he would still want them dead anyway. She hadn't met him, but she knew that he'd turned her old home into nothing more than a military base that saw the execution of every human carrier of the Simian Flu. Perhaps it didn't matter what _he_ thought - but there were some good men left, some good men whose hatred was misplaced and unproductive, they needed to know. If there was less hatred in this new world - that had to count for something right?

He seemed to be in deep thought again, God she was fascinated by what could be going on in his head.

"What are you thinking?"

That got his attention. His eyes flickered down at her sideways, surprised. _Shit, Aria watch it. You're still not talking to a man._ But his glare was gone as soon as it had landed.  
No answer.  
She didn't expect him to answer; it was a silly question really. Why on Earth would he tell a human his musings?

"Sorry I just - I know you're Caesar and... that night at the tower, we all thought you wanted to wipe us out. That's why they hate you, because they think it was you."

No answer.

Her eyes dropped down away from him and she noticed, for the first time, the tear at the bottom of her shirt; exposing the bottom of her taught tummy. She was under fed and it was beginning to show, but then everybody was under fed now. She remembered Maurice bringing her grapes earlier that morning and actually talking to her. She was irritated now. _Who put this arrogant bastard in charge anyway?_

"So you can talk…but you won't talk to me. Because I'm human."

No answer.

How frustrating. He wouldn't even look at her now.

"So you drop me in the same moral boat as Blake. Because I have the same number of chromosomes."

As soon as the name escaped her lips it stung, she hadn't meant to use his name so casually like that. She'd been really trying not the think about her deceased friends, she would find time to grieve properly when she was safe and alone. At least that was the adult thing to do she decided, for now she'd swallow her pain. Or turn it into anger. She decided to give up trying to communicate with Caesar, she was hoping it was a bad time now, or maybe she was just wrong about him wanting peace. Maybe he had at first but the war had changed him too. Maybe they were all just utterly fucked. Aria rose to her feet ready to leave.

"But I tried not to treat you as though you are like Koba.." she snapped turning away from him.

Suddenly a strong hand closed around her wrist and stopped her in her tracks. It pulled her back around roughly. Her eyes locked with his and they were darker than she'd ever seen. She was panic stricken but visibly angry. His eyes glared up at her, burned into her and adrenaline coursed through her veins.

"I am like Koba."

Aria was caught off-guard by this remark, her eyebrows drew together as she tried to understand what he meant. The soreness of her wrist against his callous palms made her hiss through her teeth. Caesar's eyes suddenly dropped to her wrist and widened. His fingers loosened and he stared dumbly at the scarred flesh captured by them. The wounds had only just started to scab over and little beads of blood were starting to appear. She didn't think he'd meant to hurt her, but he had anyway. Something beyond her comprehension flashed in his eyes. Was that guilt?

_Yes. You did that._

Aria narrowed her eyes and pulled herself out of his now loose hold. Without another exchange s he turned and left, marching back up the hill towards her rocky prison.

_Well that didn't go to plan._

* * *

Caesar's POV

The human had left him unsettled and disgruntled. He'd come down here for one fleeting moment of peace and now he felt as highly strung as ever. Leading the ape army was stressful at best, and insufferable at worst. There was always someone he needed to put in place, something that needed fixing, a council meeting he had to lead or, on a particularly bad day, another swaddled member of his colony he'd need to send down the river. He didn't have time to fix his relationship with Blue Eyes, he didn't have time to raise Cornelius, he didn't have time to do all the things a father _should_ do. He was both King and military commander. They'd barely made it out of San Fransisco after the night at the tower and they'd been under attack ever since. Caesar had clung desperately to his love for humans throughout the past ten years but now he needed to be ruthless, he needed to be the 'bad ape' for the sake of his species. So he and his army had battled the humans ruthlessly, taking no prisoners...until now. His only weakness, and it was a weakness in the new world, was his compassion. Still there, unrecognised by him, but beyond reach. Most of the time.

It would be so much easier if the human girl would stay where he'd put her and he'd need not encounter her again until she was well enough to depart. He could forget about what he'd done, his moment of weakness, and continue with planning the mission to the south. Of course she wasn't going to let him do that. He'd always spared the ones like her, like Malcolm - sure she had a lot less control over her emotions than Malcolm but then she was also much younger. He believed it was the right thing to do but in doing so, bad things had always happened. He regretted saving her from the moment she'd thanked him. Not because he wished her dead but because she'd demonstrated acknowledgment to his species as self-aware, feeling creatures like her own. She'd demonstrated understanding and a willingness to negotiate, there was no place for that in this new world of human against ape, he knew it would eventually get her killed. There weren't many left like Aria and Malcolm - of that much he was certain. Most of the humans left, had they not be dealing with the plague, would probably have charged the Redwood after the battle on the bridge all those years ago. Humans didn't like what they didn't understand - he knew that too. This war was inevitable.

The sun had just reached its highest point beyond the thinning layer of mist and Caesar knew the council meeting was about to start. He swung deftly through the trees, moving to the top of the waterfall and dropping through the gap there. He landed lightly on the rock, entering the cave and passing through the school to check briefly on Cornelius.

**'Caesar we're all here.'** \- Rocket - his second in command - had emerged from the court room.

"Good. Then let's start."

* * *

**'We've spent the last ten months trying to get away from humans - now we have one living among us?!'**

**'Kinder to kill her anyway'  
**

_Well geez that doesn't sound good.  
_

Aria hadn't a clue what they'd been talking about before her - something about a fort being successful and some soldiers from the North. Nobody in her current colony heard much from the North, she knew they'd been fighting the apes for months but the soldiers in her colony seemed more concerned with fighting each other. They weren't talking about the North anymore though, they were talking about her and she felt the danger she faced coming here. She'd been annoyed by Caesar's complete dismissal of her and then his even more baffling outburst so she'd came back to the cave. Of course she'd gotten lost. It amazed her that the captain had been so desperate that he hadn't deployed a single person with actual mapping skills. Mind you, the cave turned out to be enormous. She'd heard a lot of barking and chattering at one point, there must have been a large space where most of the tribe resided, she'd headed in the opposite direction. Eventually she'd come across a cavern she'd almost mistaken for hers, if it weren't for the vast chasm and waterfall flowing at the far end. And, of course, the seven apes sitting in the middle. She'd meant to move, she knew she needed to, but once again she was was held in place by her fascination with the other species. They were holding some kind of _meeting_. So she stayed, hands splayed against the stone wall, eye-level with one of the cracks.

' **Now you are sounding like your old leader** **.' -** an ape she recognized to be Rocket signed a little derisively.

She had no knowledge of the tension between the council members, so when a speckled ape with grey fur and old eyes barked, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Grey" - a young looking one with scars across his face and chest warned.

What ever rank Rocket was in must have been pretty high because it was at that moment Caesar came into full view, standing on two legs, towering over 'Grey'. It was impossible not to be affected by Caesar's authority, even at Aria's distance. She watched in awe as Grey submitted to Caesar's harsh glare.

**"Human will be gone in two days. We will speak no more of this - we must refocus, we've lost nearly a quatre of our ranks in the last two months.'**

A sharp tap on the head made Aria squeak and almost blow her cover. She rounded immediately on the attacker - fight or flight response draining what little adrenaline she had left from the day. It couldn't have been one-o'clock yet!

**'Human trying very hard to get herself killed'** Lake signed hastily before grabbing the bewildered teen by the back of her top and dragging her towards the edge of the cave platform. For one frightening moment Aria thought the chimp meant to throw her over. Instead, Lake just pushed her beneath one of the inclines, out of hearing distance of the meeting.

"Did you follow me here?" Aria panted.

**'No. Cornelius did - I just saw you doing stupid thing.'**

It was at that moment Aria noticed the little chimp hiding behind Lake's legs, gripping onto the fur there. He was a tiny baby with little ears and big eyes and Aria's jaw dropped. He was the most precious thing she'd ever seen.

She tried to make a sound a little softer than 'hello' but he looked frightened and hid his face, she couldn't believe such a nervous little thing would have followed her.

**'He is very shy these days. So curious before...still curious. But he has seen much.'**

She could believe that much. Baby chimps were always curious, grabbing onto anything they saw and investigating, what had he seen to scare him this much? Had he been hurt by humans? She imagined the sort of people who would want to hurt a tiny baby like him and it put a vile taste in her mouth.

"It's OK, he's curious because I'm human, but it's good that he's too shy to actually approach us." - she looked at the ape a little sadly. For the first time, she felt like she was really intruding here. Like sitting in the bedroom of a house whose owner you hadn't met. This was that baby's home and she'd invaded it. Humans had no right to be here. "Your son is very cute."

Lake released a pant-hoot that sounded weirdly like laughter and slumped down in front of Aria. She brought Cornelius around onto her chest. **'Not my son. Caesar's son. I collect him from school today because Caesar and Blue Eyes, other son, are having important discussion.'**

"I didn't know Caesar was a father."

**'He's father to us all.'**

_She definitely doesn't realize how bad that sounds._

Aria looked across Lake, considering her. The female had sort of saved her from trouble twice today and when she spoke to her, Aria felt a strange warmth. She was kind with a gentle voice and youthful eyes but it was something more than her appearance. Some unspoken girlie thing. A female human and a female ape. Aria guessed they were around the same age relatively speaking, maybe Lake was a few years younger. Sixteen maybe in human years? The thing is she'd never felt that with a non-human animal before despite what gender they were. The ALZ drug had done more than increase their intelligence. Or had it?

"Why do you call him that? Why do you follow him?"

_By the sounds of it they really love him._ Which seemed interesting to her; most dictators only ever harvest fear. And _he_ was so damn rude.

**'The awakening. He woke up my father and mother, all of the adults. He gave us life and is the reason we are free today.'**

Aria had read that a drug - ALZ-113, the successor of the one that had been used on Caesar's mother, had been inhaled by the apes at San Bruno and was ultimately responsible for their evolution. It was science to Aria, but the way Lake described it made it sound biblical. Lake stared back her, like she hadn't quite made her mind up on whether or not to like the human girl.

' **Nobody talks to Caesar the way you did'** Lake's eyes looked more intrigued than accusing. So she'd eavesdropped on their confrontation earlier. Was it possible that some of these apes were just as curious about her as she was of them?

"I know he is your leader and so I wanted to communicate. I'm not an ambassador of war."

' **Then what are you?'**

Cornelius had turned his face around at the question and locked eyes with her. He really was very cute.

"Hopeful." Aria mumbled. She dug her hand into her wide pocket and retrieved one of the grapes she'd stashed. She looked at Lake with unspoken reassurance before reaching her hand out to Cornelius, offering the fruit. A flash of excitement lit up his face when her closed palm stretched towards him but when revealed, he looked a little disappointed with the grapes. Maybe he would have preferred the exotic human nutriment that was the Malteser. He took it anyway, mostly interested because it came from her.

_See._

**'I understand'** Lake signed and scratched her head **'But not all like that.'**

"No"

Lake looked over the girl's form and then reached a long arm out towards Aria's face, the latter immediately froze. Lake hesitated at the girl's reaction but only momentarily and grabbed a piece of stray hair that had escaped down the side of her head. Then, to Aria's fascination, the ape reached up with her free hand and grabbed a piece of her own, much shorter hair from beside her ears.

"White." Lake stated simply, gently tracing her thumb over it. Aria's hair was actually quite a dark blonde in that season, she wasn't about to try and explain that to Lake though. "Mud. Lots."

_Right._ She was still covered in dry mud from being repeatedly thrown into it. Becoming aware of it made it suddenly impossible to ignore.

"I know, I need to get this off."

A dark shape came into view behind Lake's head and caught Aria's attention. Caesar had emerged from the cavern, his heavy gaze finding her and resting, he looked a little exasperated before turning away to mutter something to one of the others. Two apes approached, the orangutan Maurice and one she soon realized to be Caesar's son Blue Eyes. Cornelius jumped out of Lake's arms and scrambled towards his older brother excitedly who reached an arm down for him to climb up. Blue Eyes glared at her apprehensively before shifting his gaze onto Lake - he looked pissed with her.

**'I was just talking. Why do you care?'** Lake signed clearly annoyed herself. She looked far too petulant for an ape and Aria suspected there was some unresolved tension between the two chimps.

**'I...don't'**

Lake was clearly angry now and after tossing Blue Eyes an angry hoot, she stormed off. He gaped after her before growling under his breath and following.

_What's their deal._

Aria looked after them and Maurice approached with an amused smile plastered across his wide face.

**'Come on. You are supposed to be sleeping. It's not safe for you to wander around here.'**

"I got lost. Am I a prisoner here then?"

Maurice thought for a moment. "Yes." he said in spoken language **'but not for long. When you are ready you will be sent home, back to your colony.'**

"You mean my old colony."

**'We do not know the way to your current home and it's not safe for you to go alone.'**

"There are only soldiers there now. You won't be able to get close." She remembered the last news she'd heard of Malcolm and his family; after the night at the tower they had moved South to the ruins of Los Angeles where there was a known colony. Rumours had been circulating for years that they were conducting their own, more advanced, research down there but Dreyfus never had the means of contact, until that night.  
The truth was - Aria didn't _want_ to go back to her old colony. She didn't want to look Elliott's parents in the eyes and tell them their only child was dead. She wouldn't need to do that for Blake, his mother had died years ago and his father was a barely conscious alcoholic. But she _would_ have to tell herself. She wasn't ready to face that yet, to face all the people she'd let down. She needed to contact her own parents though and let them know she was alive at least.

"I can go South to Los Angeles. If you lead me to the edge of the Redwood I can go alone from there. It's open road straight into the city."

At the mention of the South, something sparked in Maurice's eyes. He looked interested and then once again thoughtful. He nodded and tapped a finger on Aria's shoulder, prompting her. He led her back to her dimly-lit cavern and gently pushed her towards the make-shift bed.

**'Sleep now. I'll leave food for when you wake.'**

"Why are you so nice to me?"

Maurice tilted his head and then to her surprise, smiled. She swore he had the softest pair of eyes she'd ever seen.

**'Met boy once. Saw his drawings from the war. Saw what humans have been through. Similar losses. But he was still kind. So we should be too.'**

"Alex" Aria mused, remembering the boy a few years younger than her. He'd drawn her once - she'd been sat in the weapons depot reading whilst Blake had target practice, she had no idea Alex was there - when the other kids from the academy found out they teased him mercilessly. Going as far as to call him a creep and a stalker. It did unnerve her and she'd agreed herself that he was strange but she wished now that she'd stuck up for him, he had been heart-broken over the loss of his mother and as Maurice said, he was still kind. Besides, she was sat discussing ethics with a massive Orangutan and had a female chimp reminding her to wash her hair...so really what _was_ 'strange' in this new world?

After poking around at the odd array of foods Maurice had brought her: a cut of raw meat, various fruits and tree bark - she didn't expect him to know what humans eat or how to obtain it - her knee had really started to ache. Paracetamol was a thing of the past in her colony, the resources were used on much more important medicine so the only thing she could do was sleep on it. After a few more exchanges about the food, Maurice left and Aria was able to sleep for a few hours. She dreamed of the smell of lead and tobacco and nothing else at first. Then a tall figure, man-shaped, crouched before her, black, grinning. Growing larger and amidst it all, the faint beat of drums.

_Aria._

She woke in the classic manner; no concept of time and space. Though she soon remembered where she was this time and not just because of the young female chimp that was peering into her face.

"Lake" she managed, propping up on her elbows "what are you doing here? What time is it?" She'd forgotten herself for a moment. Lake frowned at her clearly confused and revealed a brown metal bowl. Water was filled right up to the brim.

**'From human camp. Good for holding things.'**

Aria chuckled a little at this and sat upright, picking up the bowl and lifting it to her lips.

"Thank you-" but before she could drink, Lake snatched the bowl from her face.

**'No no no'** \- she repeated the sign, pinching her fingers together quickly - **'this water is for washing'**

Then Lake shifted closer and took hold of Aria's matted hair as wondered idly where her hair band had gone. _Lost forever in my bedroom let alone a forest._ Lake turned her palm up to Aria but unlike the gesture of submission, maintained eye contact. _Is she asking permission to wash my hair?!_

Aria remembered seeing the female chimps grooming each other that morning, but it definitely seemed too friendly for an ape and the human who'd been involved in the murder of two members of Lake's colony. One thing she'd noticed from their encounter earlier though was that the female chimp seemed fascinated by her hair. Does she just want to play with it or something? She looked at Lake apprehensively - "well do I really have a choice?"

**'No no no' -** Lake signed with that same pant-hoot-laugh. Aria raised an eyebrow at the ape and swiped Lake's palm.

Aria's suspicions were confirmed as the young chimp began grooming her; it was quite long coming down to the small of her back when let down and every now and then she saw, in her peripheral vision, Lake holding the hair against her own fur - comparing.

**'Softer than ape fur. Pretty.' -** Lake signed between stroking out the now wet mud. Aria wasn't sure how she'd ended up at ape camp with a female chimp washing her hair and complimenting her about it. When she'd first been captured by them, this was definitely the last thing she'd expected. _Pretty._ The word etched in Aria's mind. She'd never thought apes had a concept of physical appearance and, well, 'prettiness'. She supposed that explained the beads braided into Lake's fur. They were evolving at such a fast rate, would there come a time when it was impossible to tell whether there were apes in human suits or humans in ape suits. She wanted to gauge what other similarities they had.

"So who was that ape with Maurice earlier?" - Aria knew full well who it was and she turned her head enough to subtly monitor Lake's reaction.

**'Caesar's son Blue Eyes.'** Lake signed a little too dismissively, leaning forward to remove a piece of bark from the girl's hair with her teeth. Aria pretended not to be freaked out.

"You don't get on?"

**'Sometimes...he doesn't like humans much, doesn't trust you.'**

"So really he was being protective over you earlier" Aria urged. At this, Lake's eyes changed - the unmistakable flicker of light that told of butterflies and excitement and anticipation. She looked, for a second, so girly that Aria saw the prettiness in her too. _Astonishing. She's in love._

**'He's just an idiot'  
**

_Yep, definitely in love._

Aria remembered how that felt, she thought about her own butterflies that fluttered her tummy every time she saw Blake outside her classroom; waiting for her. She thought about it until Lake had finished and her hair was clean. She thought about it whilst Lake played with her hair and admired her work. She couldn't stop thinking about it when Lake had gone. Suddenly, cold and damp and alone in a far away land, it all hit her. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._ She didn't want to cry but her cheeks were wetter than her hair by that point and her soft whimpers had become sobs. Blake pulling her in for their first kiss, drunk and sloppy and entirely unromantic. Blake's boyish laugh the first time she told him she loved him, and then Blake blushing and reciting it back a lot quieter but twice as sincere. Blake squeezing her hand and crying into her throat as they stood over his mother's grave. Blake protecting her as his drunk father lashed out at the couple. Blake _dying._

Aria dropped to her side and pulled her knees up to her chest, for all of her bravery and cleverness, she'd been made weak. They hadn't been a couple for months, she knew he was a different person since his mum died. Since his father left to drink himself almost to death on board a submarine. Since the war. He was colder, had less consideration for life, she'd even hated him at one point and yet she still hoped that one day he'd find his way back to her. Aria cried harder than she had in a long time until she could cry no more. Her cheeks were still damp and every now and then she'd hiccup, but she was calmer for having given into her grief.

There was a grunt from the entrance of her cavern. Aria peered up from her arm. _Could they leave me alone for one minute._ But it wasn't Lake or Maurice. It was Caesar. He stood a little awkwardly; on two legs with his hand pressed against the side of the wall, like he was hesitant about coming in. He looked different than the Caesar she'd seen so far; tall and well built with open shoulders and strong arms and something unmistakably dominant in his stature. No, this time he looked uncomfortable. Had he heard her crying? Aria turned away from him, wiping her eyes with her wrists not wanting to appear weak in his presence.

"Caesar?" - she'd meant to sound strong and demanding but it came out as more of a meek whisper.

"Maurice says. You know. About. The South" he spoke in poorly formed English. Aria sniffed and tugged her damp hair behind her ears. _That's rich given he wouldn't answer any of my questions._ She decided, by virtue of Lake and Maurice's kindness, that she'd cooperate.

"I just need to get there. What do you need?"

As she turned around to face him they locked eyes for the third time that day. Although this time, his eyes changed completely; the icy glare he seemed to wear all day had melted, seemingly at the very sight of her own. She tilted her head up at him from her position on the floor, thin arms still folded around her knees and face flushed from sobbing. But he didn't say anything. It was as if the train of thought he'd been driving for months had suddenly grinded to a halt and for a split second he looked completely broken. Or maybe it was her who looked broken. She couldn't tell. His eyes, her eyes. For a split second, it was like looking into a mirror. Why was there such intensity every time they made eye contact? What was that? Why did he look so deep into her?

Caesar blinked a couple of times before casting his eyes away from the girl's. He turned so he was only half facing her.

"How are your injuries?"


End file.
